Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

An episode packed with goodness. First, Alex Koren one of two founders of Actiview, the new startup changing not only the way we consume audio description but the way we think of video accessibility. This episode also includes:
– A slight rant on access to Audio Description in general
– A special sneak peak into a new project I’m excited to work on with one of Hip Hop’s pioneers, Doctor Dre; an original Def Jam artist, Yo MTV Raps and Hot 97 Morning Show host & DJ
– Inspiration struck – thanks to Brooklyn’s own Notorious BIG… and if you don’t know, now you know…!

Resources

Transcript

TR:
Wasup everyone!
We’re talking audio description this week.
In some sense it’s about the future of description.

In the present as you’ll hear more in the Gatewave piece, getting the audio description device in a theater can be a hit or miss.

Today, a new start up changing the paradigm as it relates to how people ith vision loss and others gain access to video content.

So let’s get it!

[20th Century Fox Theme]
[RMMRadio Theme Music ]

[Audio from John Wyck Chapter 2]

TR:
You’re listening to audio description from the movie John Wyck Chapter 2. Audio Description, well, that’s the additional narration making video accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

This extra information describes scenes not containing dialog or other nonverbal information that is relevant to the story.

Alex koren, a 23 year old entrepreneur originally from the New York/New Jersey area is one of two founders of Actiview. They’re a new startup company. Their product, an iPhone app, is putting more control and accessibility in the hands of the consumer.

AK:
I received a grant in two thousand and fourteen called the Theil Fellowship. It’s awarded to twenty young entrepreneurs every year to drop out of college
and pursue entrepreneurial endeavors of their choice. I moved up to San Francisco and kind of had two years to just think about ideas work on different things. Entering into the
last half year of my fellowship I felt compelled to really build something that mattered to people. Build something I probably be connected to and I had this idea for Actiview. How can I make movie theaters more accessible. Make home television more accessible.

There’s two Founders and really three partners on this project as a whole. Myself my co-founder Braun Shedd who’s actually nineteen years old. I worked with him previously on a project or two and I said I’ve got this idea come live with me let’s work on this let’s hack on this and see what we can make out of it.

And the third guy Paul Cichockihe he was at Pixar for about seventeen years. He was the post-production supervisor and he really headed up there initiative to make their audio description as high quality as possible. He was working on captions, audio description
every accessible service under the domain of a lot of things that he did. And he left Pixar and came to join us full time in September of last year.

TR:
While none of the three partners have a direct relationship with vision loss; Alex did spend some considerable time with people who are deaf.

AK:
I really enjoy and find it rewarding to work and be in a field that really helps people with blindness low vision people who are hard of hearing or deaf.

TR:
Actiview an iOS only application right now is bringing a full service accessibility solution to the smart phone.

Alex points out some of the ways earlier apps which tried to bring audio description direct to the consumer. differ from Actiview’s approach.

AK:
all of these had great intentions and were really viable pieces of technology except for a few things.

One we wanted to be access ability first. It was all
about making sure that we provide the best possible experience for the accessible users first. And then expand it out to the general population. And the second one is we recognize that every movie had to be accessible. It couldn’t just be a select few. And so the first piece of technology that we ended up developing was a piece of hardware
that movie theaters could install that made every movie accessible via Wi-Fi. All of the technology that we’d seen had made you download stuff in the
cloud and they had a limited selection of movies. We were trying to work in the realm of making every movie accessible. In developing this technology we spent the
better part of I think over a year reverse engineering a lot of broadcasts systems and projection booths which is really really tough work. We sat in a lot of dark rooms between a lot of you know loud and hot equipment with our computers out trying to figure this out. After we built kind of our first prototypes and demos we sort of realize that theaters unfortunately just aren’t that excited about buying more equipment to make stuff accessible. Which is a really really unfortunate truth. So we sort of started to take a different approach to all this. We said how can we still make every movie accessible
without selling something directly to the theater for them to install and work on. The first thing we did was we moved a mobile app that you could download
the content from the cloud synchronize it with the movie and basically use it anywhere without any hardware. We piloted with cars three in June of this year and everyone could download the audio description track go to see Cars 3 in the movie theater and play the track back. We had some great response. A lot of moms
and dads talking about how their blind or low vision child finally got to go to the movies. It was really really moving for us and exciting for us.

That also works in the home. And so we’re working on also adding content from providers like Netflix and Amazon Video as well as DVDs that you already have, I Tunes video all the services. The download and sync idea the download and sync solution works for you kind of anywhere. So we don’t see where this is only the theatrical only the releases where you go with the family once a year. it’s also I have a spouse who’s not blind or not Deaf who wants to watch Netflix with me and I can personally turn on the audio description in my ear and we can both watch together on the same couch. Because right now you
know Netflix and Amazon have great audio description offerings but you turn on audio description on everyone’s listening when it’s on the captions everyone’s watching them. And to have a kind of personalized experience we imagine a world where the Spanish speaking mom, the blind husband and the Deaf child are all sitting in one room watching together and that’s I think a really really special experience.

And now going forward what we’re doing is we’re taking the software that we still love that was sitting in that box that you can install in the projection booth and we’re actually trying to sell it to the projector manufacturers. so they can take the software install it directly in a projector so instead of us selling new technology to theaters it’s just a software update to projectors. And that’s really the new paradigm
of what we’re trying to solve and do here at Actiview. It’s make every projector capable of making movies accessible.
We’re just getting it from its almost last destination to its destination and that’s really just from the projection booth to your ears.

TR:
The less steps in this last phase of delivery, the better. Both people and technology introduce possible failure points.

Take for instance the current process of listening to audio description in movie theaters today.

[Audio: Movie theater atmosphere]

When purchasing your tickets, a movie goer must first request the device from the box office.

In my experience, there’s often a confusion here.
After requesting the device for the visually impaired I am asked;
[Theater Box Office Attendant]
” do you mean the closed caption?”
[Pause
TR:
“No!”

[Theater Box Office Attendant]
“Do you mean the device that makes it louder?”

[Pause]

TR:
“No!”

If you make it past this first round with the a device in your hands…
When the movie finally begins after about a half hour of previews you didn’t ask to see, you find out the device wasn’t properly configured. Meaning the movie begins and there’s no description streaming from the device through your headphones.

This requires quickly returning to the theater employee or manager to have the device fixed.

Hopefully, this is resolved the first time, but I’ve been to theaters where we had to repeat this process.

Actiview would eliminate these extra steps in the accessibility delivery process.

The Actiview team seems to understand an important fact of accessibility; one size does not fit all.
AK:
People need different levels of access and our app it’s built to be really modular in the way that you can just press buttons to use multiple ones at the same time. You can’t use all of them at the same time because there’s limitations on what the phone can do, but certainly the ones that are applicable you know you know that someone using audio description for instance would never need the sign language track so we don’t allow that combination. But certainly the ones
for low hearing and low vision or low hearing and Deaf. We do allow you to combine those and use them simultaneously.

TR:
All of these accessibility solutions in one app;
should be a reminder to advocates about the power of coalition.

To download the app visit the Apple App store.

AK:
If you download the app, you go through a quick tutorial about how to use the app and just as an head’s up you will need headphones that are wired to your phone
in order to try to go through the tutorial. It’s a requirement we have for security purposes. And once you do that there’s an option to subscribe to push notifications. And if you hit ok on the push notifications you will then be on our list to hear about when new movies get released. And so we’ll be giving constant updates with new movies new content.

[TR in conversation with AK:]

You already said you’re probably working 12, 12 plus hours a day. What help are you guys looking for from the community at this point?

That’s a great question. I think that the first clearly easiest thing is downloads are king. For every download we get we’re tracking the usage of the app and we can go over to Hollywood and say hey guys look how many people want this thing. You know for every person who watch Cars 3 it was one more point in our court. Look how well this once people are really excited about this let’s keep doing it let’s keep this going.
Download some content. Go and see a movie. We hope to have a few more on there in the coming weeks to few months that you can go and see and they might be more applicable to you if you’re not a Cars fan. And that’s the easiest way to get involved.

Second of all we’re are hiring we’re looking for more engineering talent. I
think that We want to hire both low vision blind deaf and hard of hearing people to come work at Actiview. We really want to dedicate ourselves to fully being an accessible company. We’re looking for people to come join us if you’ve got the chops we will absolutely have a look and
take a listen and see if there’s a space to have you on board.

Just being an advocate – telling friends family because downloads are really important, but also coming back to us and saying hey I have an idea or hey this isn’t really working for me I need it this way because at the end of the day Actiview is only as good as the services that it provides to its customers. And if we’re not doing something to the best of our ability and you’re not enjoying the content you’re doing then we’re not doing our job. We think we’re doing a pretty good job in surveying and asking people what they want making sure we’re building their needs but there’s certainly work to be done and we hope that people give us the kind of feedback so we can build the best possible product.

TR:
To get in touch with the Actiview team whether to learn more about the app, give feedback including suggestions or for possible employment;
Contact by:
email: team@actiview.co
Twitter @TeamActiview)
website actiview.co

I’m Thomas Reid for Gatewave Radio,
[Audio from interview: Which is a really really unfortunate truth.]

Audio for independent living!

[Audio: film Slate announcer says ” Take 1″]

Whenever I talk about audio description in the back of my mind I hear the haters.

Those who say this topic isn’t important. It’s just entertainment.

Once again, the haters are wrong, they suck!

Audio description makes information in the video format accessible.

This includes educational videos in the school and workplace.

Think of young children and adults alike who develop friendships and working relationships as a result of talking about their favorite program or movie.

At the core of entertainment is humanity and a message. Why should anyone be denied access to that information.

I can’t tell you how annoying it is to see a message in my social media feed, pick anyone! and the text refers to a image file… but there’s no way of getting that information without seeing the picture.
At least that was before the ability to add a description to the image.

Truth is the image description could be included with the post especially with FB. However, Twitter enabled the ability to add way more than 140 characters to describe the image.

Museums, galleries and other places could make their content accessible using headsets and location technology readily available today.

And I know the first thing said when the subject comes up…
Do blind people go to museums or are they on social media.

Not only are we out here, we make media.

We have families who we like to accompany to different experiences and we want to engage independently without their assistance in order for us all to share in an experience.

We might want to just alone.

That question yawl, is bullshit. Don’t accept it… in fact here you go…

simply remind people that they probably benefited from closed caption when at a sports bar.

re-directed themselves toward a ramp as opposed to lifting the functional leg up to step on to the sidewalk.

Man, don’t get me started yawl!

Just the other day I saw a tweet from someone who wished they could watch television while training for a marathon. They just find it gets boring.
I had to holla and let them know audio described movies/television are a real option.
It’s a non visual means of consuming media, that’s it.
The more that use the better for us all.
Try it on a road trip. Truck drivers could really get into it.
Bike riders and other athletes. Those doing work where it allows for active listening but not focusing on a screen.

We still have a long way until accessibility is just a normal part of how we do business.

Lots of room for expansion and growth.
Documentaries!
Many do not include description making them difficult to follow.

Audio description can impact a person’s adjustment to vision loss.

For so many people, the movies are that way to get out and lose themselves for 2 hours.

Earlier this year, I interviewed what I have come to realize is a true movie connoisseur.
In fact, he’s been in some movies himself.
Doctor Dre from Yo MTV Raps and New York’s Hot 97 Morning Show fame…
If you haven’t listened to that episode I truly suggest you do.

In fact, I’ll drop a little teaser of a project he and I are working on together that brings a different perspective and voice to the podcast game.

Here’s a taste of one around Dre’s experience with description.

This project is going to include conversations, interviews and more on lots of different topics and let me tell you right now, they can go anywhere. Dre has a gift for that and the funny thing is they tie into all sorts of subjects some very relevant today and some you may not be used to me talking about.

I hope you will join us when it’s ready but for now, I’ll probably slip some previews into the podcast feed so make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss out.

If you’re not sure how to subscribe…

your friendly super hero has you covered.

If you have an iPhone

## 10 Subscribe Commandments
Step 1
Take out your phone, do it real fast
open the app, it’s called Podcast

In the bottom right corner, you can find the search tab
i’ll wait to you find it, Got it, Fab!

Now just type this in right on that search line
R E I D M Y, Mind

Tap on that search button, and away you go
there it is.., Reid My Mind Radio

All the episodes , appear on your screen
over 65 to date, Nahmean

a Reid My Mind button on the bottom, not sure which side
Hit it, next page, choose subscribe

Now your official, I’ll call you sis or bro
Or a non gender listener, of RMMRadio

Now , one more thing, I’d love for you to do,
give me a rating and if you could, , write me a review!

They say ratings help listeners find the podcast
It doesn’t take long, it’s pretty quick and fast

One last thing, You don’t need tech to do
Refer the show to a friend or two.
—
TR:
[Talking over music]
I would really like to get this information and overall message out to those who can really use it.
To me that’s everyone so we have a long way to go!

Shout out to the person who gave me a review, I appreciate you.

While you’re on the review page, hit that related tab and check out what other podcasts those who subscribe are listening to… we’re in some good company including Blind Abilities and Oprah and This American Life.

CC:
My Name Is Connie Chiu and I am partially sighted. I have albinism. The condition affects my eyesight, it effects my skin. Those two are the main things. I like to
look at it as a cocktail of conditions or a Smorgasbord of conditions to just make it sound a little bit more delicious

TR:
Delicious as in pleasing, agreeable or gratifying-
I get the sense this is an important theme for Connie.

Born in Hong Kong, at 7 years old Connie and her family moved to Sweden.

CC:
my parents thought you know she’s quite she’s got light skin she’s got white hair surely she would blend in better in Sweden with Swedish people. But I was just a little bit whiter than Swedish people and my hair was just so very very white. My features were still Chinese. So yes I did stand out in Sweden and yes I did stand out in Hong Kong as well. I’ve been to America and yes I stood out in America. So really I need to go somewhere with a lot of white Chinese people for me not to stand out.

TR in conversation with CC:
[Laughing] I don’t know where that it…!

CC:
[Laughing] I don’t know iether.

TR in conversation with CC:
Children are children so I’m going to assume when you went to Sweden, you said around when you were 7 years old, you obviously stood out in class so I am going to assume that some kids bullied.

CC:
Actually I was quite lucky you won’t believe it I was quite tall as a child. When I was about nine ten people thought I was twelve. So I think they were they
were all quite small, I thought all my classmates were so small you know boys girls doesn’t matter. I was like a head taller than what they were. I think that helped
I don’t know why but it kind of was a quite positive response. They sort of gave me gifts. They sort of gave me drawings. They gave me little presents here and there. They were just nice to me.

In Sweden they celebrate Italian Saint called Santa Lucia. Ideally you should be blonde to be Santa Lucia. In our class we had like a little vote. Then you dress up as Santa Lucia. It’s kind of a whole thing and you sing songs and you have a little parade. They voted me because of my white hair I guess. That was something positive.

It’s very hard for me to say why I wasn’t bullied in school but…

TR in conversation with CC:
I think I know, I think I know…
CC:
Oh, OK you tell me.

TR in conversation with CC:
Because you said you were so tall… I think you were bullying them? Were you bullying them Connie? Were you beating up these kids?

CC>
[Laughing…]
{Sarcastically} Yes. The secret part of my life that I never told anybody… [laughs…]

TR in conversation with CC:
I figured it out! Now, here’s the story!

TR:
Ok, Connie was not a bully. In fact, she says that as a child she was more like the quiet nerd, a real day dreamer.
Today, Connie is known as the first fashion model with Albinism.

CC:
The Thing is albinism is just one part of me.

I always loved beautiful images. I started actually behind a camera. I did an art foundation course and I was taking pictures of people and I had different ideas how I wanted my images and I try to make people pose in a way that I want. But then I kind of understood that well actually I knew exactly what I wanted so I started to take photographs of myself. It sounds crazy and I’m probably a bit crazy anyway so I just sent a black and white photo to a French designer with my phone number on the back. I did it because I admired his work, he’s a bit crazy to.

A few months later I ended up doing his Couture show in Paris. Even though I kind of liked modeling I knew nothing about it. I kind of didn’t know about the super models and so on. Of course they were all there doing the catwalk as well.

It’s just the passion of it drove me to modeling and you know it just in a way such an honor to be part of a beautiful image. iether it’s the catwalk or magazines or T.V. commercials … and it’s just great to work with talented people.

TR in conversation with CC:
The Catwalk, does that… the lights I am assuming that there’s a lot of lights and people taking pictures, how does that impact you?

Yes.

Well I wore my lenses, my light protective lenses and they were absolutely fine with it. Jean-Paul Gaultier and his team. Sometimes that’s all you need it’s not like big adjustments.

TR:
Accommodations that enable participation from a person with vision loss or other disability for that matter are often quite easy. The challenge is less about how to adapt but rather attitude.

despite Connie’s optimistic view on life, she still has to deal with situations where those she works with are less interested in accommodating her needs. Even when it’s something simple, like light protective lenses.

during a commercial shoot , producers ignored her request to reduce the room lighting.

CC:
I did point out to him that my eyesight is light sensitive. We’ll probably need to sort of work around the lighting so they were aware of that. So when I got there I saw that the light was too strong. I stood in the light, I stood on the set, it was too strong. I told them it was too strong. They turned the light down
a little and I said well actually it’s still a bit too strong.

In the studio a whole wall was just Windows really so there was day light on top of the studio lights you know.

So I said the them , Well actually if you could cover up the windows behind the camera that would take a bit of the light away and that would really help me. The team who did the interview all they said was actually we want as much light as possible. At that point I thought OK that’s the way it is.

TR:
She even told them she had her light protective lenses and
it would only take a moment to retrieve and put them in.

CC:
They kind of didn’t react to that whatsoever. They just said oh let’s just let’s just get started with the interview. they wanted to do quite a lot in about ninety minutes. They wanted to ask a lot of questions. They wanted me to wear different outfits. They wanted to take a lot of photographs. So I think those were the priorities.

TR:
It wasn’t just about the discomfort of the bright light; Connie was aware that her uneasiness would be reflected in the final image.

Ironically, this was a commercial where she was talking about her condition; Albinism which includes the extreme sensitivity to light.

CC:
I also thought to myself well actually I could walk out but I’m actually not doing this just for myself.

I don’t want people to fink this is how people
with Albinism usually look. This is only how people with albinism look when they are suffering from bright light.

Somehow I don’t think they realize that actually I felt like they took a bit of my dignity away. Because they didn’t listen to me.

TR:
It’s understandable how Connie would feel that way. But remember she’s an optimist. She’s all about making things sound delicious!

CC:
The situation is not ideal but there are things I can control. I can’t control the light obviously, but I could control the things I said, the way I felt, how I answered the questions.

TR:
These negative experience aren’t enough to dissuade Connie from trying. She does things for the right reason.

CC:
For me if I love something and I’ve really want to do I just do it I don’t even think about how difficult it actually is.

TR:
Connie’s currently pursuing another one of her love’s … singing!
It took her a while to build up her confidence while
pursuing her modeling career but she’s recently released an E P.

CC:

It’s Called my Huckleberry songs. In Moon River there’s a phrase my Huckleberry friend – it sort of means very good friends. My Huckleberry Songs are sort
of my friends in a way. Songs that I really like. For Moon river I’ve written my own guitar arrangement. It’s very simple but it’s kind of the way I see the song as well because I like to do something slightly different.

I perform mostly right now in the U.K. I love it performing live because that’s kind of what jazz is about to be in the moment. And things are never quite the same even though you’re sort of singing the same melody.

I think that’s another sort of common thing with my singing and modeling is daydreaming. [Sighs, as if discovering something new!]

It’s just to be able to use your imagination and you can be somewhere else. I think that that’s really what it is to be somewhere else. And I think people can feel it. it has happened when people say like you just took me somewhere else when you sang that song. I just went with you to a different place.
I tend to go to lovely places, so do come with me! [Laughs!]

TR:

If you want to travel to lovely places with Connie; you can purchase her E P from iTunes and Amazon or on CD direct from Connie…
She’s on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube…

CC:

Connie see o double n ie. My surname Chiu.
If you just search Connie and Albino on Google, it will all come up. (…my information)

TR:
I’m Thomas Reid for Gatewave Radio…

[Audio: extracted from Connie’s opening statement… Just to make it sound a little bit more delicious!]

TR:
Connie Chiu’s identity isn’t wrapped in Albinism or being visually impaired. That was a very clear point she made when talking about modeling.

She’s comfortable in her skin.

While she wasn’t bullied as a child and I still haven’t found the proof that she bullied the rest of the kids,
her method of dealing with those who are antagonistic is commendable.

If you are new to being the different person in the room, for whatever reason, Connie has something to offer.

CC:
I’m quite used to it now and I think the way I am as a person I don’t walk around and think about what I look like. It sounds very strange to a lot of people because “you look so different” but to me I’m just me. And it’s not until someone approach me and asked me about my hair and where you’re from When you get those questions you know that that’s oh yes oh yes by the way you know of course compared to most people I do look different. Of
course you will have a lot of people who would like to belittle you for whatever reason they can find. For me it’s quite obvious it’s like white hair and
I’m Chinese but it could also be that I’m not that tall really. So I think if someone wants to belittle you they will find a way after a while I think you learn to read people quite well and you start to understand where people are coming from. What’s behind all the things their saying. What’s behind their behavior. For me that’s quite important to me to understand for me to respond to them. So I think when some people try to belittle me or they try to make me feel different then I just embrace it. It’s like yes I’m different so what? Have you got anything else to add? I think it’s quite important of course that you have to be quite happy with who you are and being comfortable with who you are and I think it’s is that in itself it’s a learning process; ongoing process.

TR:

And then there’s something that I’m pretty sure impacts the majority… Pursuing our interests… for the right reason.

How many of us have dreamed of dancing, acting, writing or any activity, but we don’t pursue it. We have jobs, families , responsibilities…

It’s hard to justify pursuing our dreams.

When asking Connie why she decided to model, make an E P, perform on stage…

CC:
I know it sounds crazy but I did it just because I love it.

TR:
The older we get man we complicate things.

I’ll share my own experience…
I’ve always loved music.
I hear music in everyday situations… beats and melodies.
My family will tell you, I make up songs at the drop of a dime for no reason.
Yes, they’re silly… but their fun!

Ever since gaining access to a digital audio workstation;
that’s the type of software I use to record and edit this podcast;
I started recording some of these silly songs…
but honestly, not enough.
I tend to feel as though it’s a waste of time.
But it’s no more a waste of time than watching sports on TV… yeah I said it!

When the inspiration strikes, I should record..

Like during the production of this podcast, while researching Connie’s music, I came across this one song Surfing in Rio…
It was this one particular part…

Add that with Connie spelling out her name, like a rapper

Well, I had to do it! And I thought we should send a message to those commercial producers who wouldn’t listen to Connie…
Put some respect on that name!
[Audio: An original production by T.Reid using a sample of Surfing in Rio and added some Hip Hop drum beat and scratches as Connie spelling out her name (C o double n ie…) along with some quotes of hers yes, I’m different…
I call it Connie’s Jam! ]

TR:
What’s that thing you just love to do?
Are you doing it!

Seriously, holla back! reidmymindradio@gmail.com
let me know what you’re doing – I’d love to mention it here in a follow up episode…
that could be a source of encouragement for someone else.

If you’re not, consider what Connie said and do it for the love cause it’s simple…

Like subscribing to this podcast
available on Apple Podcast, google Play, Stitcher, Tune In Radio & Sound Cloud.

Now I’m off to pursue my other dream, to some a nightmare, interpretive dancing!

After over two years of interviewing different people I’ve become more comfortable with the process. I think I have a long way to go to become really good at it, but one thing is certain; I much rather ask the questions.

However, recently I was interviewed for the Vision Aware blog and the process was pretty painless. Writer, Susan Kennedy asked some good questions that really gave me a chance to get into the back story of Reid My Mind Radio.

While I don’t want to put myself in a box in regards to the things I talk about in the podcast, people adjusting to any form of disability, specifically vision loss; low vision or total blindness and everything in between, those are my people! I want them to know they can come here and hang out and it’s all good! I got you!

Doctor Dre of Yo MTV Raps, NYC’s Hot 97 Morning Show, the movie Who’s the Man? And so much more … is launching The Fight Back!

Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and now blind, this fight back is about more than you probably think.

This episode features the piece produced for Gatewave radio followed by more personal conversation with Dre. Plus, you know there’s only one way to intro this podcast… if you were a morning show listener you know I had to do it…it’s the roll call!

So c’mon yawl, listen to Dre…
>scroll down a bit, , to hear the show press play!

Resources:

Transcript

TR:
What’s good everybody?
This is a special episode so I’m going to jump right in…
it’s no mystery , the title of the episode says it all.

If you’re in my age group You remember when older folks said rap was a fad and
black radio didn’t play the music!

You remember when MTV played videos and they weren’t black artists let alone rap music.

Yes, this episode is featuring that Doctor Dre from YoMTV Raps and many other things like the Hot 97 morning show.
With that in mind! There’s only one way for me to kick-off the podcast…

Yeah, I’m gonna do it!

[Audio: From The Hot 97 Morning Show with Ed, Lisa & Dre
Music…
“What’s up yawl, whatcha got to say, who’s on the phone with Ed, Lisa & Dre?”]

TR:
Yo, TReid’s the name, and right now’s the time
Welcome to the podcast called Reid My Mind!

Cheah!

[Reid My Mind Intro]

TR:
Significant vision loss can force a person to face real doubts and questions.
Such as;
Why did this happen to me?
What do I do now?

Andre Brown has chosen to answer the last question by launching a fight;
well really a fight back.

It’s more than vision loss.

In 2008 Andre was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes.

He experienced multiple complications of the disease including Charco – foot Syndrome which he says can cause a collapse of the ankle.

DD:
My vision loss came as a progression of that and not taking care of myself properly.

my vision loss was a gradual thing where I started seeing little things across my vision. Little lines and you know things jumping.

TR:
After These lines often called floaters, multiple surgeries to repair detached retinas,
Andre was left with some light perception.

DD:
Diagnosed as Diabetic Retinopathy but as the Doctor said to me , he said that’s what’s blocking your vision, you have scar tissue in the back. He said we can’t do anything about it until we stop the Diabetes. So once that happens then we can do a different procedure or two to see if we can make the sight come back.
I’ve spoken with a lot of different people and everyone has told me that my sight returning is a very strong possibility, especially with what I am doing now.

TR:
What he’s doing now?
Simply put, he’s fighting back!

This fight is just as much for others as it is for himself.

Andre’s in a unique position to take on this job.
You see he’s been working in support of the careers of others for years.

Andre Brown, is better known as Doctor Dre, a pioneer in Hip Hop culture and entertainment.

Starting out in WBAU, the Adelphi University radio station in Long Island,
Doctor Dre would eventually go on to record music with his group Original Concept.

He D Jayed for the Beastie Boys.

He was involved in getting one of Hip Hop’s most prolific and influential groups, Public Enemy on to Def Jam records.

Most people know him as part of the Ed Lover and Doctor Dre Duo who
hosted “Yo MTV Raps” every weekday
between 1989 and 1995; As well as
extremely successful radio morning shows in New York City between 1993 and 1998.

DJ, musician, actor, author… and now
Doctor Dre is in a position to bring real attention to two of today’s
very significant health crisis ;
Diabetes & Vision loss.

DD:
Well we have the program that’s called Doctor Dre’s The Fight Back.

Taking the situation and being able to talk to other people and say, I can show you through what I’m going through that we all can change. We all can grow.

I’m finding other people that have different or similar experiences and being able to share that. So the fight back is
how do we reach out and get so many resources to work with you to try to actually change your situation.

DD:
I’m doing a lot of Holistic medicine along with traditional medicine to work with my Diabetes and just to change my diet. Just putting that under better control

I’m playing the Guinea pig so everyone can see it.

TR [In conversation with Dre]
When you say you’re playing the Guinea pig what does that mean?

DD:
Sometimes you have to go out and someone has to go oh hey does that work, well I’ll try it let’s see

I’m not bringing guarantees, I’m trying to bring choices.

What we’re doing is trying to bring those choices to the fore front. so there no longer just whispered in a corner or you have to pull this up on the Google thing… know we’re gonna say no, here’s a bunch of things here, find a way to find something that works best for you. Here are some things that are very easily at your beck and call.

And when you have options, there’s so much more you can do.

TR:
Real life style changes that affect the way we think about nutrition.

DD:
And that’s one of my goals in The Fight Back, is to change bad thinking. The mother of 4 who works three jobs with four kids and they have to run to McDonald’s because they want those Happy Meals; I want to change the Happy Meal to a life meal.

DD:
you do what you feel the most comfortable doing and you work from that position. Everybody’s an individual about it. There’s no one magic thing for one person. There’s a lot of great things out there and I am discovering those things to help me accomplish doing other things. I’m very open to learning.

TR [In Conversation]:
What types of things are you discovering?

DD:
I have a phone I could talk to and it speaks and dials and talks to me.

The technology now is catching up. I believe like Netflix has where they actually have a program that is designed so when you’re watching a program it describes everything so you get the full affect.
I’m discovering it one at a time but I don’t know the name of everything I just go wow that exists , that’s a good idea, that’s a really good idea.

TR [In Conversation with Dre]:
that’s Audio Description.

DD:
Yes.

TR [In Conversation with Dre]:
Just for full disclosure, I’m blind myself.

DD:
Oh, ok!

TR [In Conversation with Dre]:
The experience is unique and different for everyone. So I’m trying to gauge what is your experience and how other people can relate and learn… whatever that is because that’s what experience is all about. There for everyone.
DD:
Exactly.

Well with me I understood simply when it was starting to happen I said don’t panic.
I’ve become a person that reaches for solutions. And rather than falling into , oh my god I can’t believe this is happening and go into depressed mode I said no this may happen, this is what you may need to prepare to start doing. And I started preparing myself for it. I said you know what I said you know what this may be, but darkness won’t last forever. I said you have God behind you and God has already told you this isn’t forever, this is to slow you down this is just to make sure that you can listen and hear what I have to say. And I started listening and hearing what he had to say more than I started talking.

I embrace it. And in embracing it he has put me on a path to help other people and to reach out and express myself not just about the type 2 Diabetes not only about the blindness but about when something goes on and there’s a struggle sometimes embrace your struggle to find your solutions.
It doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee for a cure or a guarantee to a perfect answer but what it does is says you know what I’m more than what’s going on with me.
I can also work with this.

If you have a good relationship with your family, friends and other people and reaching out. I learn every day from so many different people and I pay attention and I try to pass on some of the knowledge of what I get so that people can help themselves

TR:
The Fight Back is a give and take; a collaboration.

TR [In conversation with Dre]:
So what is The Fight Back, what does that look like? in the world. Is that like a web portal

DD:
It’s going to be a website… we’re building as we speak because I didn’t want to just put something out there … like it’s easy to say we’re going to do that and throw it out there and people just think that’s it, that’s it… no so I said , first thing we’ll do is I’ll go out and start talking , build different interviews up and now it’s starting to take different testimonials from different people and it’s attached to other situations also , you know I’m working with a friend of mind from a company called Rally Wing and they had family who had diabetes and their discussing stuff with me.

Another gentlemen by the name of Marvin Mizell who is Jam Master Jay’s brother has a company called JMJ Foundation for the youth. He has Sickle Cell and Diabetes so connecting with his thing. there’s a bunch of people that I have connected with and I said you know what maybe I should be that focal point to bring people together. and see if we can actually work, not just to a cure and better treatments ,but to better understanding and better conversations

So going out now and talking to different people and listening to what their saying how they fought back
that’s what this fight back is all about.

Bring those stories to light.
Bring this action to light!
And be a little educational, be a little entertaining, be informative, and be supportive
That’s where the strength is!

TR [In conversation with Dre]:
Is the reality show still a thing?

DD:
We went out there we talked to different places, everyone was excited, yeh we want to do this, yes Dre we love it. And as more we kept talking, my idea disappeared and it became this other thing. It was like that’s not what we’re talking about .

I have a little experience in creating television programs.
We’re creating our own show. Creating our own messaging, making our own venue because the technology allows us to do this.

How do we take all these different instances and work together. Instead of just having a website, a page, you know do this and get this. No, I want you to come on, I want you to see these different testimonials to be able to reach out to like you and to say hey I want you to talk to him because your experience can help some other people. Your conversation can help someone else who may be feeling down and go hey wow it isn’t as bad as I thought or it could be really bad so we’re going to try and reach out. Go see people shake hands, kiss babies, do whatever needs to be done. We’re going to run the ultimate campaign! The campaign of life of wellness and happiness. That’s a campaign where you just can’t be elected. there is no electoral college for that!

DD:
My things are based on love
People want to sit back and talk about this guys this and this one’s that. Hate, hate!
I said, you know what man, hate carries weight! With love you can soar!
And I got nothing but love man!

TR:
When the site is completed, you will be able to learn more at Doctor Dre TFB.com.

There’s a quote I like to refer to that’s attributed to a Greek philosopher or motivational speaker depending on who you believe…
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Doctor Dre, reacting with love
to make information more easily available , bring
health choices to the forefront, create a place where
others can share their experiences, all while
remaining faithful and encouraging;

In this fight, there can be only one winner; nothing but love!

This is Thomas Reid, for Gatewave Radio;

Inserted from DD:
“Bring those stories to light. Bring this action to light! And be a little educational, be a little entertaining.”

Audio for independent living!

[Audio: Dre drop a load on em’, from “You down with MTV”]

TR:

Podcasts allow for longer exploration and intimate conversation.
In a way, I hinted to this in the Gatewave story edit.

There’s power in conversation between two people
exchanging knowledge about their shared experience.

Some things you really only feel comfortable talking about with someone who you know gets what you’re saying.
You don’t want to have to explain yourself.

The conversation could just be two people kicking around philosophical ideas.

often it’s , just talking about real practical sharing of information.
Like when Dre mentioned posting to Facebook:

DD:
One of my friends growing up he said I saw you on Facebook and I’m going how is he doing this? Isn’t he blind? And he’s like, he’s actually posting and doing this and that… I said, I have somebody doing that. The way I post is my son posts for me. He’ll put stuff up that I need written or said or whatever we want to put on my Facebook page. So that’s fine. That’s how that works.

TR [In conversation with Dre]
You could do it yourself too you know right?

DD:
Please, I’m listening

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Ok so you have the iPhone and the app on the iPhone is , I mean it’s all accessible. It sounds like you mainly probably use Siri, the dictation?

DD:
Yes, I use Siri right now.

TR [In conversation with Dre]
So you don’t use the keyboard at all, you never tried to use the keyboard?

DD:
No! (Surprised!)

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Oh, you can absolutely. Do you have Voice Over turned on?

DD:
You know what, I’ve been trying to go to the Apple store to sit there and have them explain everything that can be done , I do not probably have it turned on, no.

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Ok!

TR:
Sometimes we assume that people are supposed to just know things…
Those who do, need to be more open and welcoming in order to make that information available.
At the same time remain open to receiving new ideas.

Three words that tell me Dre is going to be fine
no matter what the end result of his vision loss turns out to be;

DD:
“Please, I’m listening!”

TR:
Please, I’m listening!

Dre doesn’t know me.
He’s been around the world and has access to people and privilege.

DD:
Having reached out to people like Stevie Wonder.

TR:
Now, who am I to challenge something that Stevie says. I only say that because what Stevie means to me.

Adjusting to blindness though, is different from living with blindness all your life.

For example, I grew up only seeing out of one eye.
The challenge to me was different compared to someone who loses an eye
later in life and never had monocular vision.
I could share some information about things they should know,
but prior to blindness I wouldn’t have been able to relate to that loss.
That adjustment is the challenge. Growing up only knowing one thing is a different experience.

Meanwhile, I too could probably benefit from some of their discoveries.

Dre knows there’s so much more to learn and is open to that information for himself and others.

Our conversation though, went deeper.

Like when I wanted Dre to know about an aspect of blindness
that is experienced and the ramifications that are felt by too many.

TR [In conversation with Dre]

We started the conversation with a little bit about blindness and with the things people do and do not know, right. There’s all this technology, there’s so much you know going on and one of the big big issues when it comes down to the blind community . The image of people who are blind in terms of how that’s perceived in society, there’s a lot of negative connotation when it comes to blindness that I realized that I had and as I met other people you know, blind at birth or blind afterward, there’s an incredible resource out here that is not being taken advantage of. So within the blindness community and within the disability community, unemployment is 70 percent.

DD:
Yes, it is!

TR:
So many people don’t even understand that. Even in just in terms of how people can do things and the abilities that are there it’s just not known. In part of what you’re doing you may not have or may have thought about it, you are going to be a representative of that to some degree. Whether or not you like it or not, right, people are going to look at you and they now look you as he’s blind and therefore when they think of other people who are blind they will think of you. And so the things that you’re doing are going to send a positive message not only to people who are sighted but also to other people who are blind who may have bought into that.

I just ask you to ponder that, you know!

DD:
I hear what you’re saying. It’s very funny that you say those things. Funny not laughing wise, funny as it’s very interesting how we do that … I now the same way I was put upon and told do you believe you can get your sight back, I’m going to ask you those questions to… do you believe you can get your sight back?

TR:
Now, I had lots of people say they were hoping and praying I get my sight back, but
No one outside my immediate family has ever directly asked me that question.

I know a lot of people might think that question shouldn’t have been asked.
But it was part of our conversation so in no way was I offended or upset by that. This was a conversation between two people experiencing vision loss.

This isn’t some random person asking me on the street.

My answer and Dre’s response forced me to think about how I look at that question.

My answer… next time on Reid My Mind Radio!

[Laughing….]

Just playing!

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Nah! My situation is totally different.

DD:
Mmm hmmm!

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Number 1 my cancer is a genetic cancer. I was born with a cancer called Retinoblastoma. I lost my left eye as a child. The tumor overtook that eye. I had at that time, this was in 68, well 69, radiat5ion. Thirty five years later that radiation caused another huge tumor to grow in the back of my right eye and so I had no real choice because it was right on the optic nerve and so when it’s on that optic nerve, the next step is the brain So my choice was do I take that out and live? Now mind you my wife was pregnant with our second child, we just moved from the Bronx to the Poconos in a house… so my right eye was removed. There’s no coming back from that.

DD:
Ahh, yes. You can’t get an eye transplant?

TR:
No, there’s no such thing as an eye transplant. The amount of nerves that are in the eye is unlike any place else. But that’s ok! I didn’t have a choice and that’s ok, you know because I my family, I have my little girls you know and so my thing was like you stepping back from the industry, my thing was I’m raising my girls you know. I’m a keep working and do whatever I can and be a you know a help to other people be a you know, productive member of society and all of that and I can do that when I’m blind. I like to say the only thing I can’t do is drive.

DD:
Well that tells me a funny story that I thrown out to Stevie Wonder about doing a movie I used to tell when I was doing interviews and I still do but know people go like you’re really going to do that and I said yeah I’m going to do that. I was being interviewed and they said Dre you gonna do any more movies and I said yeah I’m going to do movies. I said right now I’m in conversation with Stevie Wonder , we’re doing this movie called Just Drive the Damn Bus! And everyone fell out. They said for real. I said yeah and in that movie you’re going to see Stevie and I drive the bus.

TR:
Uh huh!

DD:
They were like, how are you going to do that? I said that’s the point, you gotta see the movie. And I was joking about it right?And then I started working with one of my partners and we started coming up with a concept of the movie and it was like, this could work. I said, it’s a movie! I said, but do you understand what would happen and he said but how are you guys going to act in the movie? I said the same way other people act in a movie, you hit your mark, you say your lines you keep moving, that’s not an issue.

TR:
Right.

DD:
Stop making an issue of a non-issue. And then I told, a matter of fact I told I was talking to LL Cool j and I told him about it and he fell out laughing. He said you’re serious. I said I’m dead serious, your gonna do that.
I don’t walk around with dark glasses on. My son says Dad put the glasses on stop walking around… I said no people need to see my eyes the way they are. So what, it doesn’t matter.
I say this to say this to you. We may not know the technology that will exist to help you gain sight when you need it, but I believe in my heart with what you just told me and what just trinkled through me is you and I our meeting is not coincidental and I can’t promise this, but I just have this feeling in my gut you’re gonna get your sight, because you need to see your kids.

TR [In conversation with Dre]
[Exhales!]

DD:
I know you’re saying, how can that be done? I don’t know. I don’t have that answer yet. That answer may come next year, that may come in five years, we don’t know. When I put those goals in front of me it gives me something to shoot for. Reality or not, that’s why I say that thing about the movie, just drive the damn bus… Bill said, you are nuts, you’re outta you… I said no I’m not. I said because we can do anything if you put your mind to it. Remember seeing Star Trek the Next generation

TR [In conversation with Dre]

yeah, yeah, with Jody…

DD:
LaVar Burton! He put on a visor and he could see. But when he went to do the movies LaVar didn’t want that visor on his face they pulled it off and put something on his eyes…we don’t know what’s coming!

TR [In conversation with Dre]
Right!

DD
Now if I could get in a DeLorean and go sixty years forward and grab it and pull it back and say here put this on it works

TR [In conversation with Dre]
[Laughing….]

DD:
I don’t know!

TR [In conversation with Dre]

Right, right!

DD:
But we’re back to what the Fight Back is all about, choices!

TR [In conversation with Dre]

What you just said helped me because the obstacles in front of me are not necessarily just based on sight. And that goes into a really deeper conversation, but when you said you get something from that, there’s no way I would want to take that away from you!

TR:
I’m not a dream killer and never want to be that!

Believing in the ability to regain sight doesn’t mean not believing in the abilities of people who are blind.

Often though, that seems to be the message we hear from different organization in their fight against blindness.

The NY Times a few weeks ago ran an article with the headline;
The Worst that Could Happen? Going Blind, People Say
The article itself discussed some of the fears, and ways to prevent or slow
certain types of eye diseases, but
it did nothing to help ease that fear for
those who are facing that in their present or future.

That’s not cool!

They only looked at vision loss from the medical perspective ,
prevent the disease and there’s no longer an issue!

But there’s the society side!

That fear is what leads to people not wanting to in anyway associate themselves with blindness.
That fear and miseducation leads to that 70 percent unemployment.

But Dre’s not saying that.
His approach appears to be inclusive, holistic as in a full picture.

He’s straight up keeping his options open
I can support that!

Let’s do some shout outs!

First of all Doctor Dre,
thank you brother for the conversation,
for the courage and willingness to bring options to the people!
I hope to hear more about the Fight Back in the near future.

These next two shout outs come with a recommendation…
Audio: The Cipher Show theme[]

If you are a hip hop fan and like to hear background stories
from artists, journalists and those on the business side…
you need to check the cipher show.
Host Shawn Satero was kind enough to help make this interview happen.

It’s one of my favorite podcasts.

At least once every episode you will hear a person being interviewed say, Wow, you really did your research!”

you’ll hear it at least once an episode which lets you know it’s a quality show.

Shout out to Shawn and the Cipher show!

Shout out to Bill Adler who helped coordinate this with Dre.
BTW, Sir, please continue producing that Christmas Mix Tape,
my daughter and I look forward to that Cipher episode each year.
No comments folks, I like the different cultural Christmas music and I ain’t ashamed to say it!

If your listening right now on Sound Cloud hit that follow button.
You can subscribe via any podcatcher on your phone or tablet,
Apple, Android it doesn’t matter we’re outchere!

In this episode of RMM Radio, I take a look at Notes on Blindness, a new film released in the US and premiering in NYC. It’s the story of John Hull who recorded his thoughts, observations and more on audio cassette. This Gatewave story includes a conversation with Co-Director Peter Middleton.

It’s pretty hard to watch a movie about someone going blind without thinking of my experience. Checkout some of my own personal recordings included in this episode.

TReid:
This audio is from the movie titled Notes on Blindness, just released in New York City and playing at the Film Forum.

Theologian, John Hull using a cassette recorder, documented his experience and thoughts as his vision faded beginning in 1983.

The film was produced using both actual tape of John Hull and his family as well as interviews he and his wife Marilyn had with co-directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney.

Actors portray John and his family, but they are lip syncing to the recorded dialog.

I spoke with co-director peter Middleton (PM) via Skype.

PM:
Using film to try and convey the sightless experience is quite an exciting creative challenge for us. So undoubtedly there was that sense of artistic project which first attracted James and myself to John’s story.

TReid in conversation with PM:
Water seems to play a big role; the idea of the rain, the tsunami…

PM:
We can’t take much credit for that. It’s all in John’s account. After losing sight he had these incredible powerful operatic dreams that were, often water was this kind of analogous feature of them…
He would have dreams of water sort of rushing down and sweeping his children away and dragging him to the depths of the ocean. And all this kind of very powerful imagery that was just absolutely kind of laced throughout his account. And of course the connotation of water as the bringer of life.

TReid:
Remember, The original audio used throughout the film was recorded via cassette in the 1980’s. Audio restoration, editing and sound design are other artistic elements of the film.

It was the inclusion of audio description that gave me access to some of the visual techniques used to tell the story.

Like Shadows, blurred or out of focus fades and sun spots.
Darkness acting like periods, concluding a statement, some times
an exclamation mark or bold emphasis highlighting a turning point in his life.

Peter says audio description served more than giving people with vision loss access.

PM:
Since we’ve been releasing as well we’ve been trying to open this conversation around accessibility and different ways people could approach the film so it has taken on that kind of social angle as well which we’re very much relishing and very much hoping to push further.
TReid:
In addition to the audio description, a Virtual Reality experience and enhanced audio version were created.

PM:
Which rather than having an external audio narration as you would do in audio description, actually built in more narration from John and Marilyn, the key subjects of the film, along with sort of sound design and music. We’ve been releasing these audio tracks with a smart phone app that allows audiences to sync that up in cinemas or on TV o\r on DVD or home or what have you.

TReid:
Director Peter Middleton said John Hull was very specific about assuring that Peter and his Co-director James Spinney understood this was just one experience.

PM:
He was always careful to point out that he didn’t intend to speak for or on behalf of anybody. So we were aware that our kind of knowledge and our experience of blindness is very much refracted through his subjective story and subjective account.

TReid:
Yet a close examination can provide some insight into the shared vision loss experience. Like the strong need to continue.
For some that means continuing an education or a hobby.
In Hull’s case it meant his career.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull recalling a conversation :
No, look, how do blind people read big books?
They said, they don’t!]

TReid:
Finding new ways for accomplishing a task, well that’s a big part of a person’s adjustment to blindness.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull:
The first thing I did was build a team of people to record books for me

With ingenuity and a little bit of help there were problems that could be solved.]

TReid:
Resolving some of these basic difficulties offers hope!

Until… the next even more difficult problem arises.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull:
It wasn’t until The final tiny bit of light sensation slowly disappeared that my mood changed.]

TReid:
Another obstacle in the process of adjusting to blindness, , maintaining or establishing relationships.

Hearing his daughter scream as she plays in the garden,
John tries to quickly get to her aid.

[Notes on Blindness Audio plays in the background.]

When he arrives , Marilyn is comforting her and already has the problem under control.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull:
That was a frightening moment.]

He struggles with feelings of inadequacy as a father.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull:
The discovery that you are useless is not a nice discovery for any father to make.]

Relationships with his wife, parents and even with God are all parts of his own journey.

Notes on Blindness, while a personal portrait of one man’s experience losing vision, is a poetic but practical look at the journey through loss.

Take for example, the role and importance of adaptations.

[notes on Blindness Audio playing in the background.
John his son Thomas saying bye to one another. ]

After Walking his son Thomas to school in the morning,
we watch as the father and son practice their special way of saying goodbye.
It’s the equivalent of both child and parent watching one another move further apart while assuring both the other is just still close
enough if needed.

[Notes on Blindness Audio: Their exchange of goodbyes growing further apart and his son Thomas’ voice fades with each goodbye.
John Hull describing the practice:
Echoing in chorus!]

We witness not only the bonding between father and son, but Hull’s appreciation for these small yet meaningful adaptations in his life.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull:
“I Love this!”]

Treid:
It’s not a movie for just the audience.

TReid in original conversation with PM:
What have you personally learned about blindness after all of this work?

PM:
Spending so much time with John and being able to listen to his account and researching has lead us to further research on different kind of people’s experiences. It’s been an incredibly fascinating process for us.

TReid:
Vision, often considered as the most feared sense to lose, yet the dialog offered by Hull and the sound design and music have a very calming effect. As if saying, it will all be alright. Or maybe that’s just my final note on blindness.

The film has been nominated for 6 British Independent Film Awards including:
Best British Independent Film
Best Debut Director
Outstanding Achievement in Craft

You can catch Notes on Blindness beginning November 16 in New York City
at the Film Forum. Other cities are soon to follow. As well as on demand distribution in the future.
Visit BlindnessMovie.com for more on dates and information.
you can find them on Twitter @OnBlindness

I’m Thomas Reid;

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull and son Thomas exchange goodbyes…
John Hull:
Until his voice becomes faint.]

TReid:
For Gatewave Radio

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull and son Thomas exchange goodbyes…]

TReid:
audio for independent living.

[Notes on Blindness Audio
John Hull: “I love this!”]

T.Reid:
When I received an email asking if I were interested in doing a story on a new movie called Notes on Blindness, my first thought was …
“I don’t think you’re going to want me to do that!”

I like to profile people who are doing things that ultimately dispel the misperceptions about blindness.

I’m cynical when it comes to movies about blindness and disability.
My experience says they are probably going to be the sappy oh look at this poor guy or wow, isn’t this person so amazing!

This, was not that!

Naturally I thought of my own experience while watching.
I guess you could say it was a comparison of notes!

The scene when he rushed to his daughter after hearing her scream;
I had my own similar experience and questioned my usefulness in emergencies.
Fortunately, I realized there’s no way I’m useless… as Hull felt at that time.

Again, the experience of blindness is specific to the individual.

One scene, John talks about how he can no longer
conjure up an image of his oldest daughter or his wife…

I never experienced that…
In fact I vividly remember both and
way more.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler so I’ll share that Hull comes to see blindness as a gift.
He’s clear to say it’s not a gift he would want for his children, but he recognizes there’s something there.

I don’t think I ever referred to it as a gift, but I know it’s not a curse.

I found myself very much curious about how John’s vision loss impacted his children. Specifically, his oldest daughter Imogen who was around the same age as my oldest when I went blind.
She reflects on her relationship with her father both as a child an as an adult in a short film titled Radio H.

[Audio from Radio H]

Notes on Blindness was focused on Hull’s experience with blindness and
not much time interacting with his kids.
At least not much that showed a playful side.
Like the tapes he made of his children performing and
him telling adventure and spooky stories.

It reminds me of some of the early recordings I did with my kids…

[Audio of Thomas and his children when they were younger.]
I’m a sucker for Daddy Daughter stories!
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